Canadian Farmer Markets His Own Cold-Pressed Oils

Canadian Farmer Markets His Own Cold-Pressed Oils FARM HOME Food Chefs at some top-notch restaurants love the rich oils from Jason Persall’s family farm His business Pristine Gourmet is located 90 minutes southwest of Toronto and produces a variety of cold-pressed virgin gourmet oils A fourth generation farmer Persall’s family has a long history of finding innovative ways to supplement the farm’s cash crop business About a dozen years ago Persall and his wife Linda became intrigued by stories about European farmers making their own oils Persall began turning his soybeans into oil It wasn’t long before they added sunflowers canola pumpkins and CBD hemp to their specialty oil production Vinegar production compliments the oils some of which are infused with maple syrup raspberries and blueberries Persall says their oils are different than many supermarket oils because they’re made using a mechanical screw press with no added heat or chemicals This produces oils with full flavor aroma texture natural anti-oxidants and quality rivaling a fine extra virgin olive oil Mass produced oils are typically extracted using solvents and then refined to produce a low flavor low color and virtually odorless oil Persall says “The term extra virgin means oil is extracted in the purest way possible without any additives or mixing with lower quality oil Unfortunately because of label restrictions we can’t use that term but we do label our Pristine Gourmet oils as ‘Virgin / Cold Pressed’ to communicate that these oils are as good as it gets ” Persall’s production techniques make sure nothing is wasted Other manufacturers seek out their food-grade ‘leftovers’ and the rest becomes animal feed He began selling his products by knocking on a lot of restaurant back doors in Toronto “Much to my surprise many chefs were looking for a direct-to-farm connection and were interested in these oils ” Persall says What started as a one person one machine operation now has four full time employees and several part time people including Persall’s high school and college-age children  Today 6 press machines run 24 hrs a day Products are sold direct on-line and through specialty stores While most of Persall’s oils are sold in Ontario they continue to expand across Canada Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jason Persall Persall Fine Foods 1211 Villa Nova Road RR 1 Waterford Ontario Canada N0E 1Y0 ph 519 443-4658; jpersall@pristinegourmet com

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